Impact Assessment

The Social Inclusion Division in the department has an important role in promoting the implementation of poverty and or social impact assessments of significant policy proposals, with a view to poverty reduction.

Both processes seek to make clear in advance what the likely impact of policies might be on poverty and on the inequalities likely to lead to poverty.

Poverty Impact Assessment (formerly poverty proofing) is a requirement under the Updated National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2015-2017, the Revised Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) Guidelines 2009, and Sn 3.4 of the Cabinet Handbook for preparing Memos for Government.

Social impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology to estimate the likely distributive effects of policy proposals on income and social inequality. It uses a tax-welfare simulation model known as SWITCH to measure the distributive and poverty impacts, include the impact on family types, lifecycle groups and gender.

For some examples of impact assessments conducted by the department, see 'Examples of impact assessments' below.

Poverty impact assessment (PIA) is the process by which government departments, local authorities and State agencies assess policies and programmes at design, implementation and review stages in relation to the likely impact that they will have or have had on poverty and on inequalities which are likely to lead to poverty, with a view to poverty reduction.

Poverty proofing, as poverty impact assessment was formerly known, was introduced in 1998 as a commitment in the national anti-poverty strategy, and remains so in NAPinclusion.

This commitment was strengthened further when it became a requirement in the Cabinet Handbook that Government Memoranda involving significant policy proposals must:

Poverty Impact Assessment is also fully embedded in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) process.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of all departments and bodies developing policy to undertake a poverty impact assessment in adherence with official guidelines.

The Social Inclusion Division provides assistance on the application of the PIA guidelines.

Social impact assessment (SIA) is an evidence-based methodology which estimates the likely distributive effects of policies on household incomes, families, poverty and access to employment.

The department undertakes rigorous and extensive ex-ante and ex-post social impact assessments (SIA) of the main welfare and direct tax budgetary policies.

This assessment uses a tax-welfare simulation model known as SWITCH, which was developed by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), to measure the distributive and poverty impacts of policies on family types, lifecycle groups and gender.

The department has published an integrated SIA which includes the main welfare and direct tax measures in annual budgets, since Budget 2013. Its purpose is to inform public understanding on the cumulative effect of budgetary policies on income distribution and social equality.

For some recent examples of impact assessments conducted by the department, see below.

Responsibility for the analysis rests solely with this department.

Completed examples of impact assessments can be found here: